Monkeys Demand Equal Pay

From: lev (vygotsky@nateweb.info)
Date: Thu Sep 18 2003 - 03:17:19 PDT


http://www.emory.edu/LIVING_LINKS/capuchins/BrosnanNature/BrosnanNature.htm
 
Monkeys Demand Equal Pay

POSTED: 12:27 p.m. EDT September 17, 2003

A fair shake is a fair shake -- whether you're a human or a monkey.

A recent study shows brown capuchin monkeys refused to play along when they saw another monkey get a better payoff for performing the same work.

The monkeys were trained to trade a granite token for a piece of cucumber. When the reward was the same for both monkeys, they took the cucumber 95 percent of the time.

But it was a different story when one monkey was given something better -- namely, a grape. Then, the other monkey often pitched a fit -- either throwing the token, refusing to eat the cucumber or giving it to the other monkey.

An Emory University researcher says the results could mean man and monkey have an evolutionary sense of fairness -- which may have helped species cooperate and survive.

Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.



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